My Third Husband

I kinda played hooky from work yesterday and went into NYC to the Motorcycle Show at the Javitz Center. It was pretty cool - since it was a weekday it wasn't as crowded as it would have been on a weekend, and it wasn't as big and overwhelming as the Auto Show.

But most importantly, I met Billy Lane again (Billy will be my third husband, as Jon Bon Jovi will be my second).

Yep, he is touching me.

Hub and I went up to his booth before he got there and talked to one of his employees for the longest time. She was so cool, and she reiterated what I already knew - that Billy is a sweetheart. He was due to get to the booth at 2pm to sign autographs but by 2:15 he still wasn't there. I figure he was at some bar, which was fine with me because I wasn't even on line yet. When he finally got there I saw him from afar, and he had his dreads pulled back in a knit cap and looked a little gangsta. Cool. Hub thought he didn't look as good with his hair back, but I disagreed.

We got on line at some point, and while we were online some jerkoff was in the booth, yelling and being completely obnoxious. The employee we had been talking to earlier came over by us and was like, can you believe this guy, he is the biggest ass. I am looking at the guy and thinking, I know this dude. Finally it hit me - he was the lead singer from Smashmouth. He was a complete ass, and finally one of the other employees escorted him away from the booth.

That Jerk From That Sucky Band Smashmouth, and Billy.

We get up to Billy and I started getting nervous. Not because I was seeing my future husband, but because I was afraid my previous impression of him as a kickass guy was going to be shattered if he wasn't as cool as the last time I met him. Well, no need to worry. He was SO awesome. He is so down to earth and just a regular guy. Hub told him that - that he is impressed with what a nice person he is - and Billy thanked him and said that he always promised himself and his folks that he would never change. We talked to him for a bit (Billy actually spends time with each and every person who comes up for an autograph, as opposed to those OCC jerks who treat it like an assembly line and don't even LOOK at the fans, much less speak to them). He is totally the kind of guy who you want to hang out with at a bar, do some shots and drink some beer, and just hang. Hub wants to invite him to one of our parties, which of course I am totally cool with ;)

We also met Matt Hotch, another chopper builder, and he was equally cool. He is much shyer, not as outgoing as Billy, but really cool. We had a normal conversation with him and he was completely down to earth.

Matt Hotch, Cool Guy

Honestly, I am getting more and more respect for these bike builders - their work is awesome and they are completely cool.

It Was 20 Years Ago Today...

Well, maybe not exactly today, but it was 20 years ago that the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off was released. This is one of the greatest movies of all time and its is one of the movies I quote most often (I hail from a family where every other word we say to each other is a movie line).

I will get back to that in a minute, but first let me tell you how this movie inspired me. While it is a hysterically funny movie, my favorite scene is at the Chicago Art Museum where Cameron is looking at the Seurat painting while The Smiths play in the background. He stares and stares at the painting until it all becomes a blur, and it is really such a touching scene. My friend C and I decide we must go see this painting in real life, so we hop in the car and drive from Jersey to Chicago (stopping only to visit Notre Dame). It was one of the most fun trips in my life (and Chicago is one of my favorite places to visit...I even considered moving there). We basically traveled through Chicago as Ferris did - going to the Sears Tower and leaning against the window looking down (yes, they yell at you for doing that), going to a baseball game and yelling "Swing batta batta batta...sa-wing, batta," and of course, seeing that huge, beautiful painting (a copy of which hangs in my dining room) and singing "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" while gazing at it and letting it become a blur. Awesome.

So onto the quotes - my most often used quote is a possibly obscure one, but its "Snooty? Snotty!" from when they are in the fancy restaurant with Ferris pretending to be Abe Froehman, the sausage king of Chicago. There are so many good ones...what's your favorite quote from Ferris Bueller's Day Off?

Its Lonely At The Top

But first...COMING SOON - Christmas pictures, Princess's birthday pictures, and New Year's Eve pictures. Note to Patsy: you were not as neat and clean while puking on NYE as you thought. Hub found chunks in various places in the bathroom. He cleaned it up, so I am not complaining.
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There are things I love about my job (working in HR). I get to help people with their issues, give them a paycheck, give jobs to qualified people, be a sounding board for suggestions, sell ideas to upper management and then implement them, etc etc etc. But there are things I really hate about working in HR.

The main one is that you can't get close to anyone. I know things about employees, like if they are going to be disciplined, what their raises will be, what their bosses say about them behind their backs, how much their bonus will be, if they are going to be fired. And its hard to look people in the eye and smile and act as if things are normal when I know something's going on. I want to tell them (especially the nice ones), but of course I can't. And the worst part is that in this company, I handle all disiplinary action. So if someone in the company is getting written up, I am the one doing it.

You may remember a few months back when I first started this job, I mentioned "the cool girl" who asked me to go out to lunch with her and her little group. Well these 3 girls are my "crew" here. But as it turns out, the "cool girl" is not liked by her direct manager nor by her VP. One of the other girls is not performing as well as they expected. One of their other friends in the company (who I am not friends with) is going to be fired any day now (I am looking for her replacement and I am going to be the one to fire her). I can't tell them any of this. So how do I go out to lunch and chat and not tell my friends these things?

Another guy, one of our Directors, is going to be written up this week. I have worked really hard to break through this guy's rough exterior and get him to trust me and know I am not your typical HR person. And now, I am going to have to write him up for his attitude. Fun.

What I have realized is that, despite the fact that I DESPISED my former company, the one good thing about it was that there were 6 of us in the department so I could be friends with my co-workers. They were going through the same thing I was. But here, its just me and my director in the department so its a very lonely place to be. I am giving myself a year here, to learn all I can and gain as much experience as I can, and then I am moving on. I have to, for my own sanity.